pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
Peter Trower
by George J. Dance Peter Gerald Trower (August 25, 1930 - November 10, 2017) was a Canadian poet and novelist.John Mackie, "Obituary: B.C.'s logger poet Peter Trower dies at 87," Vancouver Sun, November 16, 2017. Web, May 13, 2019. Life Trower was born in St. Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, England,Peter Trower, Internet Movie Database. Web, May 13, 2019. a resort town on the English Channel, the eldest of 2 sons of Gertrude Eleanor Mary (Gilman) and Stephen Herbert Gerard Trower.Ian Hawthorn, "B.C. logger found solace in poetry," Globe & Mail, November 25, 2017. Web, May 13, 2019. His father, a test pilot, was killed when Peter was 5. When World War II broke out, his mother moved the family to Canada. They left England July 28, 1940, sailing to Montreal, and then moving in with relatives in Vanvouver, British Columbia. He worked for 22 years as a logger, and has been writing professionally since 1971. Trower published 14 collections of poetry, 5 books of prose, and numerous articles. A mentor to poet Evelyn Lau, Trower appeared in the 1994 film, The Diary of Evelyn Lau, as himself. Trower spent his final years at the Inglewood Care Home in West Vancouver. He died at Lions Gate Hospital, North Vancouver, from complications arising from a broken hip. Writing Howard White, Georgia Straight: "He has written at least ten great poems. Who has done that? Anyone? Not many. When you read these poems you feel like falling down on your knees to praise the divine muses."Peter Trower, Harbour Publishing. Web, May 13, 2019. Al Purdy (from the introduction to Chainsaws in the Cathedral): "Pete's words jump and push and leap and whisper and roar in your ears. All the strange jargon of loggers is at his command. Sometimes he uses rhyme and metre, but more often it's bounding careening free verse. Sometimes ten dollar educated words, then woods jargon that snaps and crackles in the ears."Al Purdy, introduction, Chainsaws in the Cathedral: Collected woods poems, 1964-1998. Victoria, BC: Ekstasis, 1999. Google Books, Web, May 13, 2019. Recognition Awards Trower has received include: Gillian Lowndes Award (1997), BC2000 Book Award (2000), the 1st annual Peter Trower Alternative Poetry Award (2000), Terasen Lifetime Achievement Award for an outstanding literary career in British Columbia (2002), and the Canadian Authors Association Jack Chalmers Poetry Award (2005).Melanie Hardbattle, Peter Trower fonds finding aid, January 2007. Web, Mar. 30, 2015. In popular culture Trower was the subject of 2 documentaries: Between the Sky and the Splinters (1976) directed by Mike Poole; and a 1985 CBC documentary by Alan Twigg and Tom Shandel, Peter Trower: The men there were then.Peter Trower, Harbour Publishing. Web, May 13, 2019. Publications Poetry *''Moving Through the Mystery'' (illustrated by Jack Wise). Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1969. *''Between the Sky and the Splinters''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 1974. *''The Alders, and others''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 1976. *''Ragged Horizons''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1978. *''Bush Poems'' (illustrated by Bus Griffiths). Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 1978. *''Goose Quill Snags: Poems''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 1982. *''The Slidingback Hills''. Ottawa: Oberon, 1986. *''Unmarked Doorways: Poems''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 1989. *''Where Roads Lead''. Victoria, BC: Hawthorne Society / Reference West, 1994. *''Hitting the Bricks: Urban jazz poems''. Victoria, BC: Ekstasis, 1997. *''Chainsaws in the Cathedral: Collected woods poems, 1964-1998''. Victoria, BC: Ekstasis, 1999. *''A Ship Called Destiny: Yvonne's book: Poems of travel and lore''. Victoria, BC: Ekstasis, 2000. *''There are Many: Poems new and revised'' (illustrated by Jack Wise). Victoria, BC: Ekstasis, 2002. *''Haunted Hills and Hanging Valleys: Selected poems, 1969-2004''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 2004. Novels *''Grogan's Cafè: A novel of the B.C. woods''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 1993. *''Dead Man's Ticket: A novel of the streets and the woods''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 1996. *''The Judas Hills: A novel of the B.C. woods''. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 2000. Short fiction *''Hellhound on His Trail, and other stories''. Victoria, BC: Ekstasis, 2008. Non-fiction *''Rough and Ready Times: The history of Port Mellon'' (with Ellen Frith). Gibsons, BC: Glassford Press, 1993. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Peter Trower, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 30, 2015. Audio / video *''Grogan's Cafe: A novel of the B.C. woods'' (cassette). Vancouver: Library Services Branch, Province of British Columbia, 1994. *''Sidewalks & Sidehills'' (CD). Vancouver: Transiberian Music, 2003. *''Kisses In the Whiskey'' (CD). North Vancouver, BC: DLM Records, 2004. See also *British Columbia poets *List of Canadian poets References *''The Encyclopedia of Canadian Literature.'' (edited by W.H. New). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002, 1138. Fonds *Peter Trower fonds at Simon Fraser University Notes External links ;Poems *"Skookumchuk" ;Audio / video *Peter Trower at YouTube ;Books *Peter Trower at Amazon.com ;About *Peter Trower and more on Peter Trower at Harbour Publishing *"Obituary: B.C.'s logger poet Peter Trower dies at 87," Vancouver Sun *Peter Trower at Internet Movie Database *Peter Trower Official website *Winner George Woodcock Award 2002 *Review at ArcPoetry Category:1930 births Category:Canadian poets Category:Canadian people of English descent Category:Canadian novelists Category:20th-century poets Category:Poets Category:2017 deaths